


Not A Family Man

by iwillrunforever



Category: DCU, Gotham (TV)
Genre: Cute, F/M, Family, Fluff, Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:33:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27462001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwillrunforever/pseuds/iwillrunforever
Summary: You never thought Jerome would meet his children - he did die after all. But what kind of father will he be?
Relationships: Jerome Valeska/Reader, Jerome Valeska/You
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	Not A Family Man

**Author's Note:**

> This came from a couple of requests on my tumblr @ficklefics

One kid would have been enough. Two would have been too much.

Three? Three was excessive.

It was just your luck – triplets. You only found out you were pregnant after Jerome died. You never told anyone who the father was, even if people did have their suspicions; especially when they were all born with bright ginger hair just like their father. Two girls (identical, as if things weren’t complicated enough) and a boy. Roma, Abigail, and Jeremy.

You raised them as well as you could, juggling them, work, bills, and the overall chaos of living in Gotham. They were your number one priority.

You never expected Jerome to come back. Obviously: he was dead. But that night, after you put the three toddlers to bed and sat down in front of the tv, you saw him for the first time in over four years. Jerome Valeska.

At first, you couldn’t believe your eyes. It was someone else. It had to be.

But it was really him.

And that was when the lights went out.

“Mom!?!” Three voices cried out in unison. You jumped up from the couch and deadbolted the door before running to their room.  
“It’s okay,” You said as soothingly as possible, sitting on the middle of the three beds. “It’s just a power outage. They’ll fix the lights soon.” They huddled around you, Roma sat on your knee with the others on either side. You held them close, hushing them. “I’ll go get a flashlight and some candles, but I’ll be right back.” Giving them each a quick kiss on the forehead, you put Roma down before heading back out.

The apartment in the dark was terrifying. You could hear cars screeching outside, sirens and alarms, people yelling. _Please don’t let the danger come here._ Opening the door to the kitchen, you could barely contain the scream that tried to escape at the sight of the figure.  
“It’s me.” Jerome. As your eyes adjusted you could see his face. Fixed on with staples. “Now you’re a sight for sore eyes.” Without hesitation, you ran and leapt into his arms. He wrapped them around you in a tight hug, lifting you from the ground. “I guess you missed me then?”  
“You can’t imagine.” After he put you down you went to the drawer, pulling out the flashlight and flicking it on, bathing the room in a yellowy light as you pointed it at the ceiling. “Look, there’s something-”  
“You got any food?” He started rifling through your refrigerator, pulling everything out.  
“Quiet.” You didn’t want the kids appearing, not before you had explained. “Take what you want. Jerome-”  
“Perfect,” He flashed you a quick grin before he continued rummaging through the food. _Fuck, you’d missed that smile._ “So, I’ve been dead. What’s been going on with you?”  
“That’s the thing. I need to tell-”  
“Mom?” Both your heads turned to where Abigail stood at the doorframe, her hair a mess of tangles and her eyes wide.  
“Hey, baby.” You whispered. Looking slowly at Jerome, you saw him glancing between you and her, trying to grasp the situation.  
“A kid?” His voice was low, confused. Then, as though to answer his question, Jeremy and Roma appeared behind their sister. “Three kids?”  
“Yup.” You knelt down, opening your arms and beckoning for the three of them to come closer.  
“Are they-?”  
“Yours? Yeah.”  
“That’s… Surprising.”  
“You’re telling me. I gave birth to them.” You chuckled, ruffling Jeremy’s hair.  
“Mommy, who is he?” The sweet boy asked.  
“Um…” You glanced up at your old lover. You didn’t know how he would feel about the children, about being a father. You didn’t want to force it on him.  
“I guess I’m your dad,” Jerome answered the question for you, an almost shy smile on his face. In all the time you’d spent together, you had never known Jerome to be shy.  
They looked at you questioningly. “Is he really?”  
“Yes. This is Jerome – your dad.”

Abigail took the first cautious step away from you and towards him. Then she ran and hugged his leg. He picked her up, laughing, and the rest joined her. He hoisted Abigail onto one hip and Jeremy on the other, then knelt down to Roma’s level. They didn’t seem afraid of the strange man, even though he was covered in blood and literally had staples in his face.  
“So what did she call you? I hope they’re good.”  
“On your right is Abigail, left is Jeremy, and in front of you is Roma.” He smiled softly at the little girl you had named for him.  
“Perfect names.”

Of course, soon after Jerome left, he was arrested again. As soon as he was allowed visitation you went as much as possible, bringing the triplets on weekends. They got to know their father through plastic windows and over crackly phones, but it didn’t matter to them – every time they met, they loved him more and more, and they were everything to him.

Inevitably he broke out again. Soon after he did, a car arrived for you and the kids. You packed some bags quickly and got in, promising them they were going to see dad soon.

And that brought you here, to Penguin’s mansion, where Jerome and a group of criminals were brainstorming how to take over Gotham. They were in a meeting right now, and you were in the sitting room trying to keep Roma, Abigail and Jeremy entertained.

You were failing.

Abigail and Jeremy would not stop fighting, pulling at each other’s hair and clothes, biting and scratching, all over some quarrel you could not figure out. Meanwhile, Roma was in a huff, refusing to talk to you.  
“Stop it! Both of you!” You forcibly lifted Jeremy away and out of Abigail’s reach.  
“I want daddy!” He wriggled and fought in your arms, twisting and turning, but you clung on.  
“Daddy is working!” You tried to reason.  
“I want daddy too!” Abigail turned on you, hitting your leg. Her fists may have been small, but they were sure to leave bruises.  
“Look, I know you’re excited, but he’s having a meeting in the dining room and you can’t see him yet. But as soon as-”  
“The dining room!” Roma leapt up at the words and sprinted from the room as fast as her little legs could take her – which was pretty fast. You ran after her, the other two close on your heels, but she already had a head start. As you chased her you could hear voices, Jerome and the others. “Daddy!” Roma burst through the door and tumbled to a halt in front of the group.

Jerome had been in the middle of a grand speech when the five-year-old crashed the meeting – quite literally. All of them, Firefly, Freeze, Penguin, Grundy, Scarecrow and Tetch – Jerome’s Legion of Horribles – turned to stare at the small child who scrambled back to her feet and ran to Jerome.  
“Mommy wouldn’t let us see you!” Jerome looked up at the door to find you standing there, a look of guilt and panic on your face. He quickly made a decision.  
“Well isn’t that awful?” He shook his head dramatically, a silly pout on his face to match Roma’s. He lifted her up to sit on the table in front of him. You looked down to see Abigail and Jeremy standing beside you, clearly desperate to run to their father. “Not letting children interrupt their father’s meeting, why, how dare she?” He was grinning at you now, and you gave a sheepish smile in return. “Come on you two, don’t let your sister get all the attention.” As soon as they had permission they ran to his side as well. He sat Abigail next to Roma and held Jeremy on his lap. The rest of the Legion looked on, some perturbed by the whole scenario – _children_ – while others failed to hide their smiles at the frankly adorable sight. “And what about mom?” You rolled your eyes and walked to his side.  
“For some reason, they couldn’t wait to see you.”  
“Like most people.” Jerome took your hand and squeezed it – _all is forgiven_. “Now, you three can stay, but only if you behave yourselves. You think you can do that?”  
They all nodded vigorously, massive grins filling their faces. Jerome looked up at you.  
“And it’s okay with mom?”  
“As long as it’s okay with dad.” He cradled your cheek gently and brought you down to place a gentle kiss on your lips. You blushed, knowing the rest of the villains were watching, but he didn’t care. “Now, you three be good. And you better make sure daddy behaves himself too.” You gave him a pointed look – _nothing too violent_ – and a final smile before leaving, closing the door behind you as Jerome began to speak again, bouncing Jeremy on his knee.

*

Jerome found you in the garden after the meeting, releasing the kids to run and play in amongst the flower beds and hedges.  
“I’m sorry. I clearly need an extra set of arms.” You chuckled, still feeling slightly guilty. He shook his head as he sat down on the bench beside you and rested an arm loosely around your shoulder.  
“You don’t need to apologise. Family is important. I should have seen you first.” Looking at him, you were almost confused. Jerome, suggesting he might have been wrong? That never happened.  
“It’s just… I don’t exactly think of you as a family man.” You shrugged.  
“What does that mean?” He sounded indignant.  
“Well, you didn’t exactly have the best childhood. Your mother was abusive. And you killed her. And your father… And your uncle now.” You were getting off track. “I just worry; these kid’s, they’re my life.”  
“And they’re mine too now. (Y/N),” He took your jaw in his hand and turned your face fully towards him so he could press his forehead against yours, “I would die to protect them. I love them. And I love you. I’ll explain everything, I promise.”  
“Promise?”  
“Promise.”

He kissed you again, this time with no prying eyes, and you leant into it, enjoying the brief moment of peace with the man you loved.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> (I kinda wanna do a sequel with how the reader and the kids would react to Jerome's death, but also I don't know if I'm sadistic enough for that)


End file.
